At a Glance
by jo.lovely
Summary: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...What if the Prophecy had never been meant to apply to Harry Potter?


**Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me is the plot.**

The wind blew gently, rustling up flower petals in the graveyard, and the sun was setting in the distance. Ginny Potter walked silently in between graves, holding onto a small toddler with soft, red hair and bright, green eyes. The older woman wore all black robes and a saddened expression on her face.

"Say hello to Daddy, sweetie," whispered Ginny to Jacob, her son, but the small boy remained fast asleep in his mother's arms. In front of both of them were five graves, which all had freshly picked flowers in front of them. The first two had been there for the shortest amount of time; they were labeled _Molly Weasley _and _Arthur Weasley_. Ginny gave a small sniff and repositioned Jacob in her arms.

"I miss you, Mum and Dad," Ginny said quietly while straightening a rose that had fallen. "Not much is new. Percy finally came around once he heard about both of you. He loves you very much, and never quite will forgive himself for everything he did. Ron was supposed to come by here today as well, but I'm not sure if he has yet. He said he wanted to pay his last respects before he leaves for Northern Britain. He made the team for the Chudley Cannons! Can you believe that? Ron said that he almost went for Chaser, but in the end went for Keeper. Jacob is doing fine, but I'm sure that he'll start asking questions about his family before too long.…" Ginny broke off, no long able to continue talking about her deceased loved ones.

The next two graves belonged to Lily and James Potter. Ginny's heart almost broke all over again, now knowing how Harry had felt for his entire life.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," she started, never quite feeling comfortable with calling them Mum and Dad. After all, she had never met them. "I hope both of you are doing well. I came to visit today so that Jacob could see you. He's wanted to talk to you so badly," said Ginny with a grim smile, and gently nudged her son.

"Jacob, wake up," she said, "we're here to see Grandma and Grandpa."

Jacob stirred softly and snuggled up closer to his mother. "I'm tired, Mummy," he said in a small voice.

"Don't you want to see Grandma and Grandpa?" Ginny asked. Jacob was immediately wide awake and jumped out of his mother's arms and hurried over to the graves to look at them.

Ginny let her son be and walked up the hill a bit, keeping a close eye on Jacob. She found the one grave she was looking for: Harry's. He had wished to be buried a bit away from everybody else so that there would be room for Ginny as well when she passed on.

"Hello, Harry," started Ginny quietly, letting a tear fall down her cheek. "I miss you so much, and Jacob does as well, even though I don't think he understands all of it. I'll explain it all to him in good time…when it's not so painful to talk about it." Ginny had to stop once more, unable to go on. She reflected back on Halloween night two years before, when her beloved husband had died.

_There had been a loud knock on the door. Ginny Potter started to creep silently upstairs with her infant, Jacob, in her arms. Because of the new security, neither she nor Harry were supposed to open the door for anybody. _

_The person outside knocked again, this time louder. "Damn you, woman! I don't have time for this!" a harsh voice barked, and the entire front door was blasted off its hinges with a bright, yellow light. _

_Ginny screamed as she saw the man called Voldemort enter. _

"_Where is he?" demanded Voldemort, entering the house. Ginny ran upstairs and locked the bedroom door behind her, holding Jacob tightly in her arms._

_Out of nowhere, Harry Apparated and walked over to his wife. "Ginny, I'm sorry I'm so late. The Order kept us because—"_

"_Harry, get out of here. Run away, as far as you can, and don't come back," Ginny whispered hurriedly, pushing him as far as possible from the door that she knew would open any second. "Take Jacob with you." _

"_Ginny," asked Harry perplexedly. "What are you talking about?" _

"_He's here!" she said feverishly. "Voldemort's downstairs, and if you don't hurry, he'll—"_

"_Ginny," silenced Harry. "I'm not going anywhere. You take Jacob, and run far away, back to the Burrow if you must. Or go to Fred and George's joke shop. Voldemort doesn't want you. He won't chase after you or Jacob. I have to be the one to finish him." _

"_Harry, no!" _

"_Ginny, he's already taken my Mum, Dad, and Hermione. I'm not letting him take you." _

_Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open as the front one had, and the couple was blinded with yellow light. _

"_Harry!" screamed Ginny as Voldemort advanced. _

"_Ginny!" Harry bellowed. "Take Jacob and RUN!" _

"_Avada Kedavra" Voldemort began in a snakelike voice, his wand pointed straight at Harry's head. _

"_Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled at Voldemort, just as he had several years before. Instantly, a beam of golden light appeared out of both wands, and both men were forced into the air. _

"_Not this time, Potter!" Voldemort shrieked, pulling out a spare wand from his pocket. "Crucio!" _

_The golden thread of light broke at once as Harry's twitching hand dropped his wand. _

"_No!" screamed Ginny, running at Voldemort, deciding on the spot to kill him._

"_You make one more move, you filthy Muggle lover, and I'll kill your baby," Voldemort snarled, pointing his wand at Jacob, who was lying peacefully on the floor, unaware of the murderous wizard before them, his tortured father, or his terrified mother. _

_Ginny immediately advanced towards Jacob to shield him, but Voldemort had already started the curse. _

_Harry, who lay forgotten on the floor, raced over immediately to his son, blocking him from the curse. A flash of blinding green light entered Ginny's horrified eyes, and, a second later, Harry's body lay limp on the floor next to his son. _

_Ginny's eyes swelled with tears of loss and fury. "BRING HIM BACK!" she screamed, not thinking clearly. _

"_No," grinned Voldemort evilly, and performed a simple hex on Ginny. "_**_Petrificus Totalus_**_!" he said, and moved forward to Jacob. Ginny fell rigid on the floor, her wide eyes darting around the room furiously._

"_I suppose I really should make a clean job of this," the Dark wizard sneered, pointing his wand at Jacob, who was crying from all of the yelling his parents had done. "And this way, you can watch." _

_Ginny screamed ferociously on the inside, wishing helplessly that somebody would come, anybody. The family had made it three times before escaping Voldemort, and now she had failed both her husband and son. _

_Her sweet baby boy, who was born on Harry's birthday, did not deserve to die. Ginny looked hopelessly into Jacob's bright green eyes; it was all the mother had left to remind her of Harry. _

"_Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shrieked, sending the spell hurtling towards Jacob. Ginny refused to shut her eyes; she would watch until the end. But instead of a blinding flash of light, it ended, and rebounded back on Voldemort for the second time in his life. "Nooo!" he screamed, fleeing for his life. _

_An instant later, Ron Apparated into the house, downstairs. "Harry?" he called. "Ginny?" But there was no answer except for Jacob's sobs. _

_Ginny was crying on the inside. Her husband, dead, and yet, there was still hope for Jacob. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, but at least Voldemort was gone. A second later, Ron was thundering up the stairs, and as expected, worried sick after seeing the wreckage downstairs._

"_Harry?" Ron yelled from the hallway. Ginny wished now more then ever that she could speak out. "Ginny?" A second later, Ron appeared in the doorway and let out a low moan at the sight of Ginny and Harry's still bodies. "Harry," he gasped, shaking Harry's body. "Harry, mate, wake up!" But of course, Harry would not. _

_Jacob let out a small cry and Ron went over to pick him up. "There, there," he said soothingly to his nephew. Ginny's eyes snapped over to Ron, hoping against hope he would look over at her. "Don't cry, Uncle Ron will take care of you." _

_Jacob looked longingly at his mother, and Ron turned around, letting out a deep breath of relief. He could see his sister's eyes moving. Immediately, the counter curse was performed. _

"_Ginny…" he said breathlessly, a wave of relief washing over him. "You're alive." _

Ginny Potter glanced at the beautiful sunset, and called Jacob to her. A lightning scar was visible under his untidy, red hair.

"I talked with Grandma and Grandpa," the boy announced proudly. Ginny let out a small laugh at her son's imagination. At least he was happy.

"Where's Daddy?" Jacob asked. The mother nodded over to the tombstone labeled _Harry Potter. Devoted husband and father. 1980-2001_. "Mummy?" asked Jacob, looking into Ginny's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, darling, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she responded, looking straight into her son's eyes. "Oh god, your eyes are so much like Harry's…" she muttered, and had to look down at the ground. Perhaps coming to the graveyard wasn't such a good idea.

"Ginny?" a voice called from a distance. Ginny turned around and found her brother walking towards them.

"Uncle Ron!" shouted Jacob with delight, and jumped into his uncle's arms.

"Hey, squirt," Ron responded, holding up Jacob. Ginny noticed a wedding ring on his finger; Hermione's wedding ring. They were engaged, until that one fateful day when Voldemort decided to claim another life. Ginny supposed Ron never took it off.

"You already replaced the flowers on Mum and Dad's graves then?" he asked quietly so that Jacob wouldn't hear him. Ginny nodded.

"Well, I'm going to go to their graves to—y'know…"

"Go ahead. Jacob, come on down. We'll go for a walk."

Jacob groaned, but allowed himself to be lowered all the same and took his mother's hand. They walked on into the field. Ron kneeled down before his parents' graves.

"Hey, Mum and Dad. I just came by to say good-bye for the last time…" Ron started, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry about the Death Eaters coming to the Burrow after Voldemort fled. I had no idea that they wanted revenge on our family, but I suppose since you guys were the only family they knew Ginny had…" he managed awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say.

Up ahead, Ron could see Ginny and Jacob running together in the field. He sighed, knowing that Harry would have loved to be here right then, enjoying time with his wife and son. Collecting his thoughts, he walked on to the spot where Hermione would have been buried if Ron had it his way.

_It was a cold and rainy day. Ron Weasley had the burden of taking Hermione's body to her parents. More than anything, he wanted her to be buried in Godric's Hollow with everybody else. However, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had a right to see the body and have a proper Muggle funeral before anything was done. _

_Ron knocked at the door. A few seconds later, a pretty woman with bushy brown hair appeared at the door. At first, she was pleased to see Ron. After all, he was going to be her son-in-law. _

_"Ronald! It's fantastic to see you again. Now, I had a question to ask Hermione about the wedding, but I suppose I could ask you as well. Where is she? Ah well, that can wait. Now, on your side of the family, how many—?"_

_"Mrs. Granger, there's not—" Ron started miserably. _

_"Oh please, you're family now! Call me Cindy. I won't have any of this 'Mrs. Granger'! Now, on your side of the family how many can we expect at the wedding? I was just talking to Mark, and he thinks that you will have quite a few with immediate family alone. Now—"_

_On any other occasion, Ron enjoyed his mother-in-law's talkativeness, but now was not the time. _

_"Mrs. Granger." Ron said firmly. "There…there isn't going to be a wedding…" he finally choked out. _

_"Not going to be…? But surely, she didn't break it off? I'll have to have a talk with Hermione. Really, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. Don't you worry now; she'll be back on her feet and normal in a bit. She's probably just under a lot of stress, but I'll talk with her. Now, about your side of the family…" _

_Ron sighed hopelessly and sat down on the front porch bench. "Mrs. Granger, you should probably sit down." _

Ron had broken the news to Hermione's mother. She had burst into tears, and called her husband, Mike, to talk with Ron. Predictably, they were heartbroken to lose their only child that they had brought into they world. Ron tried to talk about burial arrangements, and how there was a spot vacant at Godric's Hollow, but the Granger's wouldn't hear of it. They blamed the wizarding world for everything, and were not going to have the place that killed Hermione keep her until eternity.

Afterwards, they didn't want to have anything to do with Ron either. He tried to keep a friendly relationship with them, but they always turned the cold shoulder towards him. He wished that death wouldn't have parted him from Hermione.

Over the hill, Ginny and Jacob were retreating back to the cemetery. Ron's eyes lingered for a moment on his nephew's scar, which reminded him vividly of Harry. Ron suddenly had a profound idea, and was eager to share it with Ginny. He called her and Jacob over to Harry's grave.

"Ginny," he started thoughtfully. "D'you remember that prophecy Professor Trelawny made?"

"Yeah," she said. "Harry's parents thrice defied Voldemort, he was born at the end of July, and the Dark Wizard had to mark him as an equal, meaning he had to be Half-blood. And neither could live while the other survived."

Ron shook his head. "Yeah, except that there was a chance that the prophecy wasn't referring to Harry."

"You point being…?"

"I don't think Harry was the 'Chosen One'," Ron stated.

"Oh, come off it. You think it was _Longbottom_? Ron, he's a—"

"Pure-blood, yeah I know. I don't think it was either of them."

"But Ron," Ginny protested, "Dumbledore said the prophecy could only apply to those two wizards."

"No, not exactly. Harry told me what the prophecy said, which was, '_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches_.' It was made shortly before Harry was born, but how often are these things made? Maybe, if you're talking about the whole course of time, something approaching wouldn't have to come along right away."

"Ron," said Ginny softly. "Remember when we were still going to Hogwarts and we went to the Ministry of Magic to the Department of Ministries? That prophecy room must've had _hundreds_ of prophecies in there. I think something 'approaching' means coming along soon."

Ron stopped for a moment, stumped.

"What point are you trying to make anyway?" Ginny asked.

"I think…I think the prophecy may have been describing someone else."

"Like who?" Ginny said. "Dumbledore confirmed it was either Harry or Neville, though the odds were pointing at Harry because he was Half-blood like Voldemort."

"Your son."

"My son? Jacob? Ron, Dumbledore _said_ it could only be—"

"Ginny, Dumbledore made mistakes, too. He _did_ trust Snape after all," Ron said quietly. Severus Snape was the one who had killed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron, it _can't_ be Jacob. It just _can't _be."

"When's his birthday, then?" Ron asked loudly.

"It's July thirty-first, but—"

"How many times did you escape Voldemort before he killed Harry?" Ron demanded, but his voice was gentler this time.

"Well, three, I suppose. But—"

"Jacob is Half-blood, is he not?

"_Yes_, but I—" Ginny started again impatiently.

"There you have it!"

"Ron, Harry is dead!" Ginny said, tears forming in her eyes. "And pretending like the prophecy wasn't referring to him won't bring him back." She focused her attention on Jacob. "Come on, sweetie, it's time to go."

"He's not dead…" Ron said softly.

"_Ron_!" Ginny yelled, whipping around. "I watched it happen! I was there and I saw it all! I watched the life leave Harry's eyes!" she screamed, starting to cry. "He's never coming back…ever…"

"Ginny, I know this is hard for you. It's hard for me, too," Ron said, putting a comforting hand of his sister's shoulder. "But Harry's not gone. He lives in you and Jacob; I can see it everyday. When either you or Jacob talk about using the Invisibility Cloak, I see the same mischievous glint in your eye that Harry used to get. When you play Quidditch, an identical look of pure joy dances on your face like it did on Harry's. That wasn't there before he died. No matter how many times Jacob tries to beat someone at Kid's Wizard Chess, that similar look of frustration creeps across his face like it did Harry's. When I hear either of you laugh, my old best friend shines through, and I can almost hear him again. Harry will never be gone from this earth as long as you or Jacob is around. Voldemort, however, cannot love, and therefore _can_ be defeated. You mustn't give up hope. At least not for Jacob. And, if you think about it, Voldemort didn't win. He was reduced to the same, slimy less-than-human thing he was after he tried to kill Harry the first time."

Ginny sat silently, thinking this over. If Harry was present in her all of the time, why didn't she ever feel him? If his laugh always rung merrily out through hers, why did it always seem so empty when she did so?

"Ron, I can't let Jacob be the 'Chosen One'," Ginny said firmly.

"Well," started Ron calmly, "I don't think you get to choose his fate. You're only human."

"THEN—I—DON'T—WANT—TO—BE—HUMAN!" Ginny yelled, the words sounding to her as if they came from another person. "I'm not going to fail Jacob like I failed Harry!" she yelled out, and started to cry again.

"Ginny, is that what you think you did? _Fail _Harry?" Ron asked quietly.

Ginny nodded miserably.

"Ginny, you saved Harry's life."

She looked down at her shoes and shook her head.

"Ginny, you're the reason he kept going. When he asked Mum, Dad, and me if it was all right if he married you, he said that if he couldn't, he didn't know if he could go on. You lit up his day, and he loved you more than you know," Ron said. "Now, once Jacob was born, Harry had a beautiful wife and a joyful baby boy. He was the happiest man in the world."

"Did he really say that about me?" Ginny asked, looking skeptical.

"Well, something like that…" Ron said vaguely, not quite meeting Ginny's eyes. She rolled them good naturedly. "But Ginny, you have to cut Harry a little slack. You know that he wasn't exactly _romantic_."

Ginny laughed, but she found no signs of Harry in it. "Do you really hear Harry in there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do, "Ron answered seriously. "But not always. Usually when somebody makes a joke about him or the time the two of you spent at Hogwarts together."

Ginny considered this thoughtfully, making a mental note to listen for this in the future. "Let's go to Fred and George's joke shop," suggested Ginny. "I'm sure we could all do with a few laughs. And I think Jacob's fallen asleep again….Yes, he has." And with a graceful motion, Ginny picked up her son without making him stir.

"Okay, said Ron, "but I hope they haven't reinvented another U-NO-POO formula. I'll never forget the time Harry 'accidentally' put it in my drink, apparently under the impression it was Fire Whiskey…"

Ginny laughed again, and for the first time in two years, she heard her husband again.


End file.
